Shannon Dueck on Ayscha. (Photo by Susan J. Stickle.) Wellington, FL - With less than two weeks until the World Dressage Masters Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach gets under way on March 9-11 2011, a number of the world's top riders and their horses are preparing to travel to South Florida. The World Dressage Masters presented by Axel Johnson Group will award more than 400,000 Euros over four competitions in 2011, making it the world's richest dressage series. The first...

California dressage rider Dantia Benson (Photo courtesy of Dantia Benson) Somis, CA – December 8, 2010 - California dressage rider Dantia Benson flew from her home in California to Florida to attend the annual United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Convention and watch her four-year-old Dutch horse be awarded the Materiale Horse of the Year. What Benson didn’t expect was to fly home from the convention as the second winner of a custom made dressage saddle from Custom Saddlery as part of their...

Rebecca Walton (Todd Flettrich on Otto, Tina Konyot, Steffen Peters, Anne Gribbons and Katherine Bateson-Chandler on Nartan at the USET Foundation Gladstone Headquarters. ) Gladstone, NJ - Taking advantage of its newly refurbished facility, the United States Equestrian Team Foundation is currently hosting the U.S. Dressage Team as they prepare for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The outstanding group of horse-and-rider combinations includes Steffen Peters and Ravel; Tina Konyot and...

Today was a good day. Even if with cold temperatures and rain in the morning. Today was a good day. Three Americans sit at the top of the Rolex Three-Day leader board. The sun came out. The freestyle for the Kentucky Cup CDI3* is set to take place soon. And oh yeah, I had a lovely chat with Jonathan “Jock” Paget this afternoon. For those of you not familiar with one of New Zealand’s top riders, Jock and Frances Stead’s Clifton Promise are making their debut at the 4 star level here at the Rolex...

Dressage: Dressage riders on the West Coast battled it out this weekend at the Mid-Winter CDI3* held at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Jan Ebeling and Rafalca were impressive in both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle, easily taking home top honors. The pair was the only one to top 70% with a freestyle score of 71.800%. Canadian Sharon Merkel-Beattie and Essence of Glory were first in the Grand Prix Special with a score of 64.042; Adrienne Lyle and Wizard were second. Complete results...

Photo by Robbi Meisel (Taylor Adams and Kassandra) Ocala, FL-based Taylor Adams began the curtain calls for the 2010 Jacksonville Winter Series on Friday evening with a big win in the $10,000 Bruning Equitation Classic, presented by the Jerry Parks Insurance Group. Adams partnered with the Devon Walther owned Kassandra bested a field of 15 over an intricate layout of 11 obstacles co-designed by international great Pierre Jolicoeur and Joe Carnicom. The course zig-zagged the length of the...

Gulch, the six-time Grade 1-winning son of Mr. Prospector, has moved to Old Friends, the Thoroughbred retirement facility in Georgetown, KY, where he will permanently retire. The 25-year-old stallion has stood at William S. Farish’s Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, KY, since leaving racing in 1988. He was pensioned from stud duty just this year. Gulch (Mr. Prospector x Jameela, by Rambunctious) was owned and bred by Peter M. Brant and trained by Hall-of-Famers LeRoy Jolley and D. Wayne Lukas....

Recently, Brookwood Farm hosted a unique five-day clinic with renowned rider and trainer Ray Texel that featured many different learning techniques. The clinic was held November 18-22, 2009, and while many clinics are two or three days, this longer format gave Texel and the participants more time to develop a unique rapport while working through many different challenges. Brookwood Farm is owned by trainers Rush and Caroline Weeden, who also hosted the 2009 $25,000 Chicago Hunter Derby. "One...

The SmartPak Equine/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Area II Adult Riders Training Three-Day Event, October 22-25, at Waredaca Farm in Laytonsville, MD, hosted 37 riders in three divisions. The event was a huge success with all but two riders completing the exciting long-format course. When it came time for the award ceremonies, it was three grey horses that earned the blue ribbons. D.C. McBroom aboard Twain won the A division on a 35.30 having added no additional penalties to their...

Lexington, KY - The National Safety Officer, Malcolm Hook, has released the following report on the safety measures implemented to advance safety in the sport of Eventing. The following protocols have been put into effect, and some came out of the USEF/USEA Safety Summit held June 7-8, 2008 in Lexington, KY. This report was submitted to the FEI in August. The Watch List specifications are nearing completion to inform competitors of potentially dangerous riding at USEF and USEF endorsed...